Man Utd interested in Witsel? | Fergie rumoured to have watched him v Chelsea

It's fair to say that Ferguson and the scouting team watch dozens and dozens of players a season, yet only a select few are deemed good enough or required to be brought to Man Utd. Any player we are linked with or supposedly scouting should be taken with a pinch of salt.
 
Tbh, Benfica's entire team looked pretty mediocre to me.
 
Couldve been Garcia, Gaitan or Witsel... or maybe Fergie was missing CL footy and went to watch a match in London.
 
Do explain us how a pretty mediocre team got twice as many shots on target as Chelsea

Obviously I'm talking in the context of players being linked with us. From what I've seen none of their players are up to playing for us, or at least we shouldn't be putting them well up the list.

But in answer to your question, Chelsea are a pretty average side at the moment and they played poorly.
 
Although I still dislike him a bit for that terrible challenge and legbreak he got banned for, when I've seen Benfica this season (and its been plenty of matches now) Witsel impresses me more than Javi Garcia. Garcia is just like having another CB on the pitch. His passing is simple and his positioning is restrained to protect the defence. If we signed him it would just to be a defensive specialist in front of the defence. Dont expect anymore than that.

Witsel on the other hand goes box to box, makes some tackles and gets involved in Benfica's free flowing attacks. He supports Benfica's front 4 and can be involved to good effect with his runs and picking out a team mate.

I really cant see why we'd need more defensive options than we have already with Carrick, Jones and the possibility of Fletcher being back next season. So I'd choose Witsel certainly.
 
Witsel to me makes more sense than gaitan…unless he going to play gaitan in the middle. We need a player like witsel who can get about a bit. We don't know the seriousness of fletchers condition either. Pogba if he stays will still be too young but will play more games. Giggs will play less games next season.
 
He is a decent player but is this the height of our transfer ambitions these days? I wish the club would come clean about the state of our finances and the ability to invest in the team.

You were desperate for us to sign Defour so why would you be disappointed about Witsel?!
 
I've not seen as much of Defour as Witsel (Defour only recently started playing more regularly and isn't in the first XI) but Witsel seems a better player at the moment. I hope this reverses in the near future.
 
Benfica ready to cash in on Man United and Chelsea target

Manchester United and Chelsea have been handed a boost in their pursuit of Axel Witsel after Benfica signalled their willingness to cash in on the Belgium international.

Witsel, who signed for Benfica from Standard Liege last summer, enjoyed a terrific debut season in Portugal, and played a key part in the Lisbon side's march to the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

According to Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, Benfica are ready to sanction the sale of Witsel this summer. However, the Portuguese side are demanding £20m for the Belgium international - more than three times the £6.3m they paid Standard for his services last July.

United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is reported to be a long-term admirer of the combative midfielder, who sparked controversy in 2009 following a reckless challenge that resulted in Anderlecht defender Marcil Wasilewski breaking a leg - an incident that saw him banned for eight games.

New Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo is also thought to be on the hunt for a new central midfielder this summer, with Witsel's international team-mate Marouane Fellaini also linked with a switch to Stamford Bridge.

However, the two Premier League giants will have to fight off competition from Spanish champions Real Madrid, with Bernabeu boss Jose Mourinho keen to strengthen his midfield before the start of next season.
 
Hmmmm....so going to Chelsea then, mandatory United reference added to quadruple the hits on whatever site that's from
 
He's a good box to box midfielder (although a cnut for that tackle) but £20 million is excessive
 
I know he was highly rated but no idea what's happened to him the last few years. As usual I trust sir Alex's judgement should we go for him. Anyone know how defour has done as well?

Belgium have some talented players at the moment.
 
Very good player in my opinion. Easily worth £20m.
 
Whats his stand out ability?

He had a terrific season at Benfica, quite superior to Defour at Porto. I think he's an extremely intelligent player, terrific positioning and defensive coverage but very good going forward as well. Scored some very good goals this season. I think his most stand out ability is ball retention, he's very good at keeping possession with simple movements and a great reading of the game.

Will be interesting to see how if he keeps improving next season. And doesn't seem like a dirty player at all to me, that atrocious tackle he made in Belgium seems like an exceptional incident.
 
Was about to ask if Arruda was about :lol: Only saw him in that friendly v England and he looked nothing special but saying that either did Hazard.
 
He had a terrific season at Benfica, quite superior to Defour at Porto. I think he's an extremely intelligent player, terrific positioning and defensive coverage but very good going forward as well. Scored some very good goals this season. I think his most stand out ability is ball retention, he's very good at keeping possession with simple movements and a great reading of the game.

Will be interesting to see how if he keeps improving next season. And doesn't seem like a dirty player at all to me, that atrocious tackle he made in Belgium seems like an exceptional incident.

Is he similar to Dembele, if so who is better between the two in your opinion?
 
Is he similar to Dembele, if so who is better between the two in your opinion?

I am sorry, I'm not familiar with Dembele, don't watch Fulham play regularly.
 
He's only like Dembele in the fact he will both defend and attack. Dembele is obviously miles better with his dribbling. Perhaps Witsel has better positioning and more energy

For me its hard to really pick out something he's absolutely exceptional at. And for that reason I think £20 million is too much
 
Is he similar to Dembele, if so who is better between the two in your opinion?

I wouldn't say they are all that similar, albeit some things they do are the same. Witsel is a more natural midfielder who's got the all round package: good ball retention, good energy, good at shielding the defense and has the right amount of physicality to his game. His positioning is also quite good.

Dembele has all the right physical and technical attributes but have to remember he only got converted into a midfielder last season. Witsel is the better player right now but I think Dembele has the capacity to be similarly good. I really like his strength and, in particular, the way he holds the ball - it's quite impressive.